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Opening Reception: Between Nature and Imagination
With artists Edwin Villasmil and Elba Martinez
Thursday, December 03
1:00pm - 4:00pm
For more than two decades, artists and environmentalists Edwin Villasmil and Elba Martinez have explored the connections between art, nature, and education through their works. Experience their art now as never before in this retrospective bringing together painting, sculpture, and digital media. For more information, please contact the branch at (305) 535-4219 or fuenteso@mdpls.org. All ages.
For more than two decades, artists, educators, and environmentalists Edwin Villasmil and Elba Martínez have explored the connections between art, nature, education, and community through their work with the Miami-Dade Public Library System.
Their artistic collaboration with the Library has taken audiences through the ecosystems of the Everglades, the landscapes of Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s River of Grass, the fantastical worlds of Jorge Luis Borges, imagined “green aliens,” reflections on the global pandemic, and, most recently, an exploration of nature inspired by Emily Dickinson.
This retrospective brings together drawing, painting, sculpture, and digital media from these projects, offering a glimpse into the craft, technique, imagination, and environmental consciousness that have shaped their practice. Their work transforms libraries into spaces for discovery, dialogue, and creative learning, where art becomes both a means of expression and a tool for education.
Throughout their twenty-year collaboration with the Library, Villasmil and Martínez have accompanied their exhibitions with talks and Eco-Art workshops for audiences of all ages, using creativity as a way to encourage greater awareness of our relationship with the natural world.
An accompanying audiovisual projection, drawn from the Miami-Dade Public Library System’s Digital Archives, revisits photographs, videos, and moments from these exhibitions and programs, extending the retrospective beyond the gallery and into the history of a lasting artistic and community collaboration.
AGE GROUP: | Young Adult (12-18) | Older Adults (55+) | Adult (19+) |
EVENT TYPE: | Special Event | In-Person | Art Exhibition |
Miami Beach Regional
| Mon, Nov 09 | 9:30AM to 8:00PM |
| Tue, Nov 10 | 9:30AM to 8:00PM |
| Wed, Nov 11 | Closed |
| Thu, Nov 12 | 9:30AM to 8:00PM |
| Fri, Nov 13 | 9:30AM to 6:00PM |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 9:30AM to 6:00PM |
| Sun, Nov 15 | Closed |
Miami Beach, FL 33139